If I told you that Hillsboro had the World’s Best, would that put a Big Smile on your face?

Well, head north on Northwest Jackson School Road, just off Northwest Evergreen Road, and you’ll run into a painter’s palette of color at the VanderZanden Tulip Farms. Here you'll find World’s Best, Big Smile, Banja Luka, Red Impression, and a number of other varieties of tulips nearing full bloom this week.

Since 1979, Crystal and Bob VanderZanden have been growing tulips on their farm. They started with just one acre of the bright flowers when, Crystal explained, “Bob saw Hillsboro coming, and we needed to grow something that made more money per acre than wheat.”

Their son Tad VanderZanden and his wife, Stefanie, work the now seven acres of tulip fields with them. And just as they have in years past, they sell the flowers based on an honor system out of a little shop on the farm.

The tulip season is a seven day a week endeavor at the moment, with the family up early to cut the flowers and place the bunches into coolers, ready to sell.

Crystal says, “This season has been a weird one for growing tulips.” She pauses, then adds, “But that’s the life of a farmer.”

They expect to be selling tulips through the end of April. By mid-May they will be into the next season of cut flowers, which is peonies.

When driving by the VanderZanden Tulip Farms, it can be a hit of visual delight to see the brightly colored blooms on a gray spring day. And while the family welcomes people to stop and buy a bunch to bring home, please don't tiptoe through the tulips. If you want a photo, take it from the parking lot or side of the road.